Two-time MVP Angel Perez (left with Puerto Rico Championship trophy) can not participate in the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship because his wife could give birth on the date in which he would be active in Brazil (via: primerahora.com)

Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, April 21, 2014 - The
reigning champions of Puerto Rico’s Men's National Volleyball League Guaynabo
Mets began their preparation last week for the 2014 FIVB Men’s Club World
Championship, which will be held May 5 to 10 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Guaynabo, who will make their debut in the FIVB tournament, will face international heavyweights such as Sada Cruzeiro – the 2013
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club Championship winners, Brazil’s Super League champions, winners of the South American
Championship and holders of Copa Mineiros of Brazil - in addition to Argentina’s UPCN, Russia’s Belogorie
Belgorod, Tunisia’s Esperance, Iran’s Matin Varamin, Italy’s Trentino Volley
and Qatar’s Al-Rayyan.

Guaynabo
has a great opportunity to face the best professional clubs of the world with
a short amount of time to prepare according to coach and ex-setter Javier
Gaspar.

“At
this time, we are going to have practice Tuesdays and Thursdays, as specified
by the national team coach David Alemán because we have many of our
players on the national team. We have a short amount of time and I would like
to add on one day of practice per week so we can get more players prepared for
this tournament,” Gaspar said to Primera Hora’s newspaper.

According
to the head coach, if he can’t increase the days of practice before the
beginning of the competition he will be at a disadvantage because many of the
teams participating ended their campaign recently. Gaspar added that the team
will have to be efficient with the little training they will have.

Gaspar,
however, started the training without his two setters (Pérez and Morales)
because both of them are active in Austria's and Russia’s Volleyball League
respectively. The 12 players that will form the final team to the Men’s Club
World Championship will be defined by a cut.

"Fernando
is not over yet, like Angel, and that's a slightly worrying situation,” he
said. “Both are out of Puerto Rico and that presents a challenge in terms of
what we can do in training. Jorge de Jesús, our alternate setter will train
with us, as Arturo Iglesia, one of our youngest players that have great skills
and are going to help us when we need them, at this time we are a little bit
hands tied with this situation.”

Similarly,
Guaynabo is unsure whether they can have international players or not. At one point,
the Mets management announced the possibility of having the Cuban spiker,
Leonardo Leyva and the newly nationalized opposite Maurice Torres. Despite the
challenges, they will face in the fort coming weeks. Gaspar said the key to the
Mets is to maintain a stable reception and well defensive line, which can
receive most of the strong serves that the other teams will portray.

“Our
goal and key, as the past tournament in the island, is to maintain a strong and
stable K-1 (Reception and first spike after the rivals serve),” he said. “I
assume we will see many strong serves that we aren’t used to here in Puerto
Rico, so is something we are going to work on. We have to enhance our serve and
reception so the setter can improve a fast game with the spikers, this way they
can create some struggle to the other team. The teams we are facing are higher
than us so we have to be fast enough to make points.

“The
first games are very important for us and we need to maintain a high level
because they don’t know much about us. As the tournament advances and the
scouting process begin, everything becomes much harder for everyone. We have to
reach a great position throughout the pools so we can move to the next round.”